Chapter Six: Jesus Christ

Part 3: Transcendental Christology

Transcendental Christology is the central concept of Chapter VI. It refers
to Jesus as the human being who first entered into a union with God so completely
that God finally and irrevocably affirmed Jesus' transcendence. And it refers
to Jesus as the one to whom we look for a sign that God's offer of transcendence
is real. Rahner begins by overcoming the objection that his Christology substitutes
a reflection on Jesus for a relationship with him (A). He then argues that such
a transcendental Christology is important to our age because it enables us to
distinguish the truth existing within the mythological expressions of Jesus'
encounter with God (B). The presupposition is that all human beings are oriented
toward this encounter and able to experience it in their concrete lives (C).
Finally, Rahner traces the development of transcendental Christology. It springs
from our unsatisfied longing for an ever-deeper encounter with God.

A. Some Objections to Transcendental Christology
(VI.3.A, p. 206). Some will object that a transcendental Christology cannot
supply the lack of a relationship with Jesus Christ. That is as true as to say
that a theology cannot supply the lack of faith. One cannot deduce a relationship
from a reflection. But there is more to the objection than that. By asking about
the difference between Christology and faith, we raise a transcendental question.
It is the question of how we can transcend a merely theoretical approach and
enter into a more genuine relationship.

Transcendental Christology inquires about how a person can hear God's Word
and obey its summons. To be sure, this question is logically prior to an actual
relationship with Jesus Christ. There must be the possibility of a relationship
before the relationship itself. That is a valid objection to transcendental
Christology. But the question of logical priority is misleading. One cannot
even understand such a thing as transcendental Christology until one has a concrete
relationship with Jesus.

It is true to say that the incarnation is an event of grace. We cannot summon
this event by an effort of intellectual speculation. The Christian, however,
starts with an experience of a relationship with Christ. Then he or she can
ask how the relationship developed. He or she can ask how human nature was “elevated”
so as to enjoy the relationship.

B. The Importance of Transcendental
Christology in Our Age
(VI.3.B, p. 207). In this brief paragraph, Rahner states that traditional theology
lacks a transcendental Christology. Traditional theology may seem to the modern
person a merely “mythological” overlay to historical events. In
other words, the modern may object that Jesus of Nazareth was “just a
man” who was proclaimed Son of God after his death. Transcendental Christology
enables us to distinguish between the genuine reality of faith and inadequate
interpretations of it. It enables us to say what “Son of God” really
means and to distinguish it from mythological images of Jesus, depicted (for
example) with a halo.

C. The Presuppositions of Transcendental
Christology
(VI.3.C, p. 208). Transcendental Christology presupposes that all human beings
are oriented toward and hope for an absolute saviour. Further, it presupposes
that the nature of human beings has been elevated by the grace of God’s
self-communication. The human being is also, as a spiritual being, open to a
dialogue with God. The person can hope for God to offer God’s own self.
We cannot say whether this orientation of the human being is due to an “elevated
nature” or to his or her own “spiritual subjectivity.” But
at any rate, a transcendental Christology presupposes both (1) what is necessary
for human transcendence in general as well as (2) the concrete and historically
contingent experience of individuals.

D. The Development of a Transcendental
Christology
(VI.3.D, p. 208). Transcendental Christology can never be satisfied with merely
conventional experiences of Jesus Christ and of the Church. Why not? Because
no finite experience can satisfy the human longing for absoluteness and absolute
fulfillment. Rahner expands this thesis under five points:

1. Unsatisfied Longing. There is a transcendence for which we all long. We
try to represent or mediate transcendence by means of an object, image, or
person. In the gap between our longing for transcendence and the mediation
of it, we experience God. Another way to express this is to point to the gap
between the unity we seek and the plurality we experience.
2. The Experience of Hope. Human beings dare to hope that God cares for them.
We see God’s care in experiences which are themselves finite but which
enable us to participate in “the infinite itself, in the unity of the
fullness of meaning, in a Thou who is absolutely trustworthy” (209).
As we reflect on the hope for transcendence, we begin to see that hope itself
is a manifestation of the hoped-for encounter with God. Yet we concede that
hope is not enough. The hoped-for goal is not yet in our grasp. We may even
refuse the goal of hope.
3. Transcendent Promise. Our hope takes place in history. Although we express
this hope in words and actions that are finite and contingent, nevertheless
the object of hope (the mystery of God) itself never becomes finite. God is
revealed as a promise. The promise is not to be fulfilled in our merely human
expressions of God. God is also revealed in the event of death. In the presence
of death, we still can hope for eternal life – or we can resign ourselves
in despair.
4. Historical Promise. Our hope searches in history for God’s promises.
These are promises of something final, irreversible, eschatological, promises
such as the proclamation of the kingdom of God.
5. Finality of God’s Offer. God’s offer of the divine self can
only be made complete to a person who “surrenders the future”
in his or her death. By dying, the person reveals a final acceptance of God.
God’s offer can only be “final” when the human being accepts
it in an irrevocable way.

In summary, Rahner’s development of a transcendental Christology has
a limited goal. It cannot create faith by showing that the absolute saviour
is found in Jesus of Nazareth. But such a Christology allows the Christian to
understand what one has found in Jesus.

To read the remainder of this text, please order the printed version
of The Foundations of Karl Rahner
by Mark F. Fischer, published in 2005 by Crossroad Publishing (ISBN 0824523423).